Player action incentive arrangement for gaming systems

ABSTRACT

A processing device measures the time it takes for a player to take some action in a game and bases the award or result in the game for the player at least in part on that measured time. A player receives a more desirable result or outcome for a particular game play in response to a shorter player action time and/or receives a less desirable result or outcome for a particular game play in response to a longer player action time. Providing more desirable results for shorter player action times or less desirable results for longer player action times provides players an incentive that influences them to take the appropriate player actions more quickly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/982,169 filed Nov. 5, 2004, and entitled “Player Action IncentiveArrangement For Gaming Systems,” now U.S. Pat. No. ______. The benefitof this prior application is hereby claimed in the present applicationpursuant to 35 U.S.C. §120. This application also claims the benefitunder 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/558,684, filed Apr. 1, 2004, and entitled “Player Action IncentiveArrangement For Gaming Systems.” The entire content of each of theseprior applications is incorporated herein by this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to electronic gaming systems such as bingo games,for example. More particularly, the invention is directed to apparatus,methods, and program products for providing a player with incentives toquickly take required player actions to facilitate consistently rapidcompletion of the games in a gaming system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are situations particularly in multi-player games where theparticipants are required to take certain actions in the course of thegame. The game generally referred to as “bingo” is an example of a gamein which participants may be required to take some action in order tocomplete a game that has been initiated. Bingo is played withpredetermined bingo cards that include a number of designations randomlyarranged in a grid or other layout of spots or locations. The bingocards may be physically printed on paper or another suitable material,or may be represented by a data structure that defines the various cardlocations and designations associated with the locations. In thetraditional bingo game sequence, a number of the predetermined bingocards are first put in play for a particular game and then designationsare randomly selected from a pool of available designations and matchedto the designations on each bingo card that is in play in the game. Thismatching of bingo designations randomly selected for a game and bingodesignations associated with a card in play in the game is commonlyreferred to as daubing the card and results in a pattern or arrangementof matched spots or card locations. The player first achieving aparticular game ending pattern of matched card locations and then takingsome action to announce or claim the win is considered the winner of thebingo game. Generally, bingo designations continue to be randomlyselected and announced to players until one of the players achieves thegame ending pattern and then takes the required action to claim theprize. That is, the game can only end if one of the participants takesthe required action or actions to claim the win. Even players that donot achieve the game ending pattern in the bingo game may be required totake some action either to claim a consolation prize or for some otherreason.

The requirement that a player take some affirmative action in order tocomplete the game can pose problems particularly in electronicimplementations of bingo games which are intended to facilitate rapidplay. If a player in a bingo game fails to take the required action inorder to claim the win for the game ending pattern or is slow to takethe required action, the game continues on longer than necessary. Thus,all the players in the game must wait longer than necessary to obtainthe results of their participation in the game. This delay in obtainingresults can cause dissatisfaction with the game and prompt players tomove on to other, competing games or gaming systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides apparatus, methods, and program productsfor conducting games in a way that may reduce undesirable delaysintroduced by slow players or players that fail to take specific actionsrequired by the game. In particular, the present invention involvesmeasuring the time it takes for a player to take some action in a gameand basing the award or result in the game for the player at least inpart on that measured time. The invention generally provides incentivesfor players to take actions more quickly in the course of the games andthus provides the potential for faster overall play of games.

Several definitions will be helpful in describing the invention. A “gameending pattern” is defined as a number of daubed card locations arrangedin a particular pattern that has been defined as the pattern that, onceachieved for any bingo card or card representation in play, ends theparticular bingo game. Each “game ending pattern” is associated with acorresponding “game ending result.” In addition, a “player action,” asused in this disclosure, is defined as any action that a player may ormust make in order to continue play in a game or claim the final resultor prize in a game. Daubing a player's bingo card(s) and/or operating aninput device to claim a win or prize are examples of player actions in abingo game. The point in a game where a player may or must take someaction in order to proceed in the game is referred to in this disclosureas a “player action event.” “Player action time” is the amount of timethat elapses between the player action event and the point in time thatthe player completes the player action. Finally, “action incentives” aredefined as anything that may be employed to influence a player in a gameto take a player action.

A method according to the present invention includes monitoring forplayer action events and then measuring a player action time in responseto a player action event. A result or outcome for the game for aparticular player is then based at least in part on the player actiontime. Generally, the invention provides a more desirable result oroutcome for a particular game play in response to a shorter playeraction time and/or provides a less desirable result or outcome for aparticular game play in response to a longer player action time.Providing more desirable results for shorter player action times or lessdesirable results for longer player action times provides players anincentive that influences them to take the appropriate player actionsmore quickly. Prompting or influencing players to take actions morequickly generally reduces the time required to complete a given game,thereby enhancing the gaming experience for all participants in thegame.

Although the invention is not limited to any particular type of gamingsystem, the invention has particular application in multi-player,wagering gaming systems in which players compete against each other inone or more wagering-type games. A particular multi-player gaming systemembodying the principles of the invention includes a number ofelectronic player stations and at least one server in communication witheach electronic player station. Each electronic player station may beused by a player to produce or initiate a game play request toparticipate in a multi-player game. The server or servers collect thegame play requests into a game play group and then conduct the game oncesufficient game play requests have been collected. The server and/orrespective player stations monitor for player action events, and, oncesuch an event is detected, monitors or measures the player action timefor responding to the event. The server or player station ultimatelyuses the player action time in determining or setting the award or prizefor the respective player. Awards or prizes may be influenced by asingle player action or by cumulative player actions over the course ofa single game or several separate games. In preferred forms of theinvention, a processing device associated with the player stationmeasures the player action time and reports that time to the server. Aprocessing device associated with the server then uses the player actiontime information in setting or determining the respective player's awardor result for the game play.

All of the functions performed by the various processing devices in thegaming system are preferably performed under the control of suitableprogram code. Thus, the invention includes a program product forcontrolling or directing the various hardware functions. A programproduct embodying the principles of the invention may include actionincentive code and player action time monitoring code. The actionincentive code is executed to present action incentives to the playerassociated with the player action event at the corresponding electronicplayer station. The player action time monitoring code detects when aplayer action event occurs, measures the time a player takes to completethe player action, and makes the player action time available to theaction incentive program code. The action incentive program code usesthe player action time in determining or setting the result or award forthe game for that player. These and other advantages and features of theinvention will be apparent from the following description of thepreferred embodiments, considered along with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a high level diagrammatic representation of a bingo gamingsystem embodying the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a computer system arrangementthat may be used for the central game server and local area serversincluded in the system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of an electronic player stationthat may be used in the system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart providing a high level description of a processexecuted at the electronic player stations according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart providing a high level description of a processexecuted at the local area servers according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart providing a high level description of a processexecuted at the central game server according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a representation of a graphic display that may be used in agaming system according to the present invention to present a playerwith action incentives in the course of play.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Various advantages and features of the invention together with preferredmodes of use of the invention will best be understood by reference tothe following description of illustrative embodiments read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following descriptiondiscusses the invention as used in a bingo gaming system, in particular,the bingo gaming system disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/456,721, published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2004/0152499 A1 on Aug. 5, 2004, and entitled, “Method, System, andProgram Product for Conducting Multiple Concurrent Bingo-Type Games,”the entire content of which has been incorporated herein by referenceabove. Although the invention does have particular application in bingogaming systems, it will be appreciated that the invention is by no meanslimited to use in bingo gaming systems. Rather, the invention hasapplication in any gaming system, particularly any wagering-type gamingsystem, in which it is desirable for the player or players to take someaction or series of actions quickly in the game.

FIG. 1 shows a gaming system 100 including a central game server (CGS)101 that cooperates with a number of other components to enable players,preferably at many different remote gaming sites, to participate inbingo games. Each gaming site includes a local area server (LAS) 102 anda number of electronic player stations (EPSs) 103. As will be discussedin detail below, in the normal operation of gaming system 100, a playerat any EPS 103 in the system may participate in a given bingo game withplayers at any other EPSs 103 in the system. Thus, players at differentgaming facilities may be grouped together for a given game administeredthrough system 100. Grouping together players from different gamingfacilities for the play of a bingo game allows different bingo games tobe played rapidly and minimizes the time that players must wait toreceive the result of their participation in the game.

System 100 includes an arrangement for grouping players and/or game playrequests for the play of a single game to facilitate rapid play. Thisplayer grouping arrangement reduces the time between a game play requestat one of the EPSs 103 and the return of results to the respective EPSsufficiently to allow a great deal of flexibility in how results in thegame are displayed to the player. In particular, the game results may bedisplayed in some manner unrelated to the underlying bingo game. Forexample, the bingo game results may be mapped to a display traditionallyassociated with a reel-type game (slot machine), to a display relatingto a card game, or to a display showing a race such as a horse or dograce. Preferred techniques for mapping bingo game results to displaysassociated with games or contests unrelated to bingo are described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/060,643, published as U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/01324661 A1 on Sep. 19, 2002, andentitled “Method, Apparatus, and Program Product for Presenting Resultsin a Bingo-Type Game.” The entire content of this prior application isincorporated herein by this reference.

System 100 rapidly groups players and/or game play requests and startsone game after another so that multiple games may be in play at anygiven time. That is, once a first group of players or game play requestshas been assigned to a game offered through system 100, the systemproceeds to simultaneously administer a game for the first group ofplayers or game play requests and also begin grouping players or gameplay requests for a next game. System 100 does not necessarily wait forone game to be completed before starting to collect players or game playrequests for, and actually beginning play in, the next game. The numberof players or game play requests grouped for the play of games accordingto the present invention may be limited to reduce the time required forgrouping. For example, each game offered through gaming system 100 shownin FIG. 1 may be limited to between 2 to 20 players or game playrequests, with the preferred number for any given game being from 10 to15. Where system 100 includes numerous EPSs 103 at the various remotelocations, on the order of several thousand EPSs for example, hundredsof individual games may be in progress at any given time through thegaming system.

Regardless of the rapid play facilitated by system 100 and regardless ofthe manner in which the game results are displayed, for purposes ofexample, the underlying game remains a standard bingo game played in thetraditional sequence of play for bingo games. That is, each playerobtains or is assigned a bingo card or bingo card representation, allbingo cards in play in the game are daubed or checked for matches with arandomly generated sequence of designations (for example, designationsproduced in a ball draw or produced by a random number generator), andthe first card in the game to match the sequence of designations toproduce the game ending pattern wins the bingo game. Additional prizesmay be awarded for other patterns that may be produced in the course ofthe bingo game. The mapping of different prizes to various bingopatterns that may be produced in the course of a bingo game in system100 may be accomplished as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,017 B2,entitled “A Method for Assigning Prizes in Bingo-Type Games” or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/238,313, published as U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2004/0048647 A1 on Mar. 11, 2004, andentitled “A Prize Assignment Method and Program Product for Bingo-TypeGames.” The entire content of each of these documents is incorporatedherein by this reference.

CGS 101 may comprise a computer system such as the basic system shown inFIG. 2. The basic system may include one or more processors 200,nonvolatile memory 201, volatile memory 202, a user interfacearrangement 203, and a communications interface 204, all connected to asystem bus 205. It will be appreciated that user interface arrangement203 may include a number of different devices such as a keyboard, adisplay, and a pointing device such as a mouse or trackball for example,although not shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively to the integrated userinterface arrangement 203 shown in FIG. 2, a user interface for CGS 101may be provided through a separate computer (not shown) in communicationwith the CGS. Regardless of the particular configuration for CGS 101, inthe normal operation of system 100 shown in FIG. 1 within the context ofa bingo game, the CGS functions to group players for participation inbingo games offered through the system, produces or obtains sequences ofbingo designations for the play of the bingo games, checks for oridentifies the results in the games, and communicates the results toLASs 102. Specific processes performed by CGS 101 to provide thesefunctions will be described below with reference to FIG. 6.

As used in this disclosure, any sequence of designations that may bematched against bingo cards or card representations in the presentgaming system will be referred to as a ball draw regardless of how thesequence is actually generated. Under this definition, it will beappreciated that a ball draw may be produced by a random numbergenerator, a pseudo random number generator, or any other suitabledevice or system, and not necessarily a physical ball draw device. EachLAS 102 included in system 100 as shown in FIG. 1 may comprise acomputer system having the same basic structure as shown in FIG. 2. Thatis, each LAS 102 may include one or more processors 200, nonvolatilememory 201, volatile memory 202, user interface arrangement 203, andcommunications interface 204 all connected to system bus 205. As withCGS 101, the user interface for the respective LAS 102 may be providedthrough a separate computer in communication with the LAS rather thanthe integrated user interface arrangement 203 shown in FIG. 2.Regardless of the specific configuration of the LAS, each LAS serves, innormal operation of the system shown in FIG. 1, to transfer or relayinformation from its respective EPSs 103 to CGS 101 and transfer orrelay information from the CGS to the LAS's respective EPSs. Each LASaccording to the present invention may also have the ability to groupplayers and actually play games in certain situations. For example in abingo game, where one LAS 102 serves a large number of EPSs 103, the LASmay group players or game play requests from its respective EPSs duringa time of high player activity, obtain or produce a ball draw, identifyresults, and return results to the EPSs rather than having the CGS 101perform these tasks. Also, each LAS 102 shown in FIG. 1 may beconfigured to perform the tasks normally performed by CGS 101 in theevent the communications link between the respective LAS and CGS isdegraded below a certain level or is severed altogether. Specificprocesses that may be performed by LASs 102 according to the inventionwill be described below with reference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an EPS 103 that may be used in a gamingsystem embodying the principles of the present invention. Theillustrated EPS 103 includes a processor 300, volatile memory 301,nonvolatile memory 302, and a communications interface 303. The volatileand nonvolatile memory stores computer program code that may be executedby processor 300 to cause the processor to perform or direct the variousfunctions provided by EPS 103. Communications interface 303 allowscommunications between EPS 103 and its respective LAS 102 and/or CGS101. EPS 103 also includes a special user interface arrangement tofacilitate player participation in games offered through gaming system100 shown in FIG. 1, and display results in an exciting and attractiveformat. This interface includes player controls 304, a display or touchscreen display 305, a sound system 306, and perhaps other features 307such as alarms or special displays or alerting devices. Each EPS 103also preferably includes a convenient system for allowing the player toinput player-specific information and for receiving wagers anddispensing winnings. For example, the EPS 103 shown in FIG. 3 includes aplayer account card reader 308 that is adapted to read player-specificinformation from a player account card inserted into the reader. Aplayer account card may include player information or simply a playeridentifier encoded on a magnetic medium (mag stripe) associated with thecard, or encoded on bar code, or a memory device associated with theplayer account card. The illustrated EPS 103 also includes a device 309for receiving value and issuing value in the course of play. This devicemay accept currency, vouchers, or tokens, for example, and also outputcurrency, vouchers, or tokens. Of course a separate device may be usedto receive and issue value for games played according to the presentinvention. Alternatively or in addition to value in/out device 309, EPSs103 may read player account information from the player card or playerinformation otherwise input at the EPS, and account for wagers andwinnings in the manner set out in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/044,478, published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2002/0132666 A1 on Sep. 19, 2002 and entitled “A Distributed AccountBased Gaming System,” the entire content of which is incorporated hereinby this reference. It will be appreciated that the particularconfiguration of devices shown in FIG. 1 is shown only for purposes ofexample. A gaming system according to the present invention may omitsome or all of the separate LAS's 102 at the various gaming facilitiesso that the EPSs 103 communicate directly with CGS 101. Also, variousregions or different gaming facilities may be divided up into separatesystems each having a respective CGS such as CGS 101. In thesesituations the system could be configured such that a single EPS 103 maybe serviced by any of the CGSs. Furthermore, a gaming system embodyingthe principles of the invention may include multiple CGSs rather that asingle CGS 101 as shown in FIG. 1.

With regard to the example EPS 103 shown in FIG. 3, it will be notedthat display 305 is shown as being directly controlled through processor300. It will be appreciated that other forms of EPSs that may be used inthe present invention may include one or more separate video processorsdedicated to driving the display or displays. Regardless of theparticular hardware configuration used for an EPS 103, the inventionpreferably includes some facility or arrangement for detecting when aplayer action event has occurred and measuring the time between theplayer action event and the player action responding to the playeraction event. Commonly, this measuring of player action time willinvolve measuring the time between the point at which a certain graphicdisplay is presented to, or produced for, the player and the time thatthe player operates an appropriate input device in response to thegraphic display. For example, in the bingo gaming system shown in FIG.1, each EPS 103 involved in a given bingo game may produce a “DAUB NOW”display indicating to the player that they must make a suitable daubinput to continue the game. Producing this “DAUB NOW” display representsa player action event at the respective EPS. Each respective EPSmeasures the time between this player action event and the time that theplayer makes an appropriate daub input. This time represents a playeraction time in the game. In this example, software associated withprocessor 300 or some other processor driving display 305 may start aclock at the time the signals, commands, or codes are sent to thedisplay 305 to produce the “DAUB NOW” graphic, and stop the clock inresponse to the player's appropriate input. Alternatively, the softwarecould start the clock when the processor executes some command or codethat ultimately results in the “DAUB NOW” graphic, regardless of whenthe display is actually driven to produce the graphic. These twoalternatives are simply two examples of arrangements for detecting orindicating player action time within the scope of the present invention.

In the following description of FIG. 4 and the other process flowchartsin this disclosure, it will be appreciated that the references to thephysical components are references to the diagrams in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3that show those components. The components, such as EPSs 103, LASs 102,and CGS 101 discussed with reference to the flowcharts are generally notshown in the flowcharts themselves but are shown particularly in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows a process that may be performed at an EPS 103 according tothe invention in the context of an electronic bingo game. After EPS 103is initialized and activated for use by a player, the process at the EPSincludes initiating a game play request as shown at process block 400.This step is performed in response to one or more inputs made by theplayer at the EPS 103. This game play initiating step may include aprocess for assigning a bingo card representation for the game play anda process for assigning a wager amount for the game play. Theseprocesses and conceivably others may be in addition to some final inputby the player to place the assigned bingo card in play for thedetermined wager amount. It should be noted that the bingo cardassignment process, wager determination process, and/or process forputting the assigned card in play may each involve one or more playeraction events that are monitored according to the invention. That is,the speed at which a player completes these steps may be monitoredaccording to the present invention and used in determining or setting afinal result of the game play.

Once the player has, in one fashion or another, made an input at EPS 103to enter their card or cards in a bingo game administered through thegaming system (100 in FIG. 1) as indicated at process block 400, the EPSforwards a game play request to the respective LAS 102 as indicated atprocess block 406 in FIG. 4, and preferably drives a display showingsome type of entertaining graphics pending the return of the result forthe player's card(s) in the bingo game. For example, EPS 103 may beconfigured to display results associated with the underlying bingo gamein terms of reel stop positions for a reel-type gaming machine (slotmachine). For this type of result display, the step of driving thedisplay at process block 406 may include showing a number of reelsspinning to imitate the spinning reels one would see immediately afteractivating a traditional reel-type gaming machine. Alternatively,results from the bingo game may be displayed in some other entertainingfashion such as a horse or dog race for example, and the step of drivingthe display shown at process block 406 in FIG. 4 may include an initialportion of the race. In yet other forms of the invention, results may bedisplayed as in a traditional bingo game and the step of driving thedisplay shown at process block 406 in FIG. 4 may include simplydisplaying the bingo card that has been assigned the player and placedin play. Even where the results of the bingo game may be shown withentertaining graphics unrelated to the bingo game, a portion of thedisplay at EPS 103 is preferably devoted to a representation of thebingo card in play and ball draw for the bingo game in which the card isentered.

The nature of the communication forwarding the game play request to LAS102 will depend upon a number of factors. For example, the communicationmay include an actual card definition for each card that defines therespective player's bingo card which is in play for the game.Alternatively, where card definition files are available at the varioussystem components, the communication may include a card identifier foreach card placed in play and this identifier may be used to locate theactual card definition. In still other forms of the invention, theplayer's bingo card or cards placed in play from EPS 103 may have beenknown to the LAS or CGS from the card assignment process. In this case,the game play request sent to LAS 102 at block 406 in FIG. 4 may notinclude even an identifier for the card(s) in play, but merely somesignal for the LAS to place the card(s) in play for the requestingplayer.

Regardless of how EPS 103 drives the display at process block 406 inFIG. 4, the EPS receives a ball draw for the game in which the playerhas been entered and, for each card placed in play, a result for thegame play which has been identified at the LAS 102 or CGS 101, asdescribed in detail below. The receipt of the ball draw and result isshown at process block 407 in FIG. 4. The result received at EPS 103represents the result of the respective player's card in the bingo gamein which the player's card has been entered. As in any bingo game, theresult is associated with some pattern and/or sequence of spots on theplayer's bingo card that have been matched by designations in the balldraw. However, it will be appreciated that the result communicated toEPS 103 at process block 407 is preferably some result code thatrepresents the actual bingo result. The ball draw and result may be sentto EPS 103 separately or in a single communication. In either case, thepreferred form of the invention displays the ball draw on the displayassociated with the EPS prior to the time the respective game result isdisplayed.

In some preferred forms of the bingo gaming system, the bingo playermust claim their bingo prize associated with a winning or game endingresult by taking an appropriate player action. Other forms of bingosystems present the ball draw and thus the game results to the player intwo or more distinct groups, and require some player action after eachgroup is presented to the player. In systems in which the player mustclaim their prize or take some other action in the course of the game,the EPS process may include activating or at least monitoring a prizeclaiming or daub display or input device at EPS 103. This prize claimingor daub input activation or monitoring is included at process block 407in FIG. 4 along with the activation of a timer which measures the timebetween when the prize claiming or daub display or input device isactivated or monitored for an input and the time that the player takesaction by making the appropriate input. This time represents the playeraction time for that player action event. In some forms of theinvention, the rules of play make it apparent to the player that takingaction quickly in the game will benefit them. Thus, the players areaware of the action incentives from rules shown at the EPS 103 and/orelsewhere at the gaming facility. Some preferred forms of the presentinvention may actually notify a player of an action incentive at thetime of the player action event. In these forms of the invention, theprocess includes activating or producing some display or device at therespective EPS 103 indicating to the player that there is some benefitassociated with taking action quickly. This step would be in addition tomerely activating the player input device to allow the player to makethe appropriate input. For example, when a player must take some actionto proceed in a game, EPS 103 may produce a display with suitablegraphics and a message such as “DAUB NOW FOR BONUS ROUND PLAY” or “DAUBNOW FOR SPEED PLAY AWARD.” These displays actually present the actionincentive to the player and encourage the player to take the appropriateaction more quickly. It will be noted that these two different examplemessages indicate two different types of action incentives. The firstmessage indicates that acting quickly will or may entitle the player toparticipate in some sort of bonus round, which may be a separate bingogame, or some other type of game. The latter example message aboveindicates that acting quickly will effect the award or result of play inthat particular game, without any separate game or bonus round.

If the player claims their prize by taking the required player actionswithin the set period of time, as indicated by decision block 408 inFIG. 4, EPS 103 determines the player action time and reports it to therespective LAS 102, as illustrated by process block 409. Also shown atprocess block 409, EPS 103 may receive the player's award from LAS 102based on the player action time. In other forms of the invention, theEPS 103 itself may be able to identify the appropriate award or resultof the game for the player based on the underlying game result that hasalready been communicated to the EPS and based on the player action timemeasured at the EPS. In any event, the results of the game arepreferably displayed to the player as indicated by process block 410. Inthe example described above in which the results may be displayed byreel-type or slot machine graphics, the display at EPS 103 may showreels stopped in particular positions that together correspond to theresult achieved by the player in the bingo game. In the example wherethe results are shown by a horse or dog race, EPS 103 may show aparticular horse or dog in a win, place, or show position correspondingto the result the player has achieved in the bingo game. Where the speedat which the player takes the appropriate action has entitled them tosome enhanced award, the enhanced award may be communicated to theplayer through the regular presentation for the game or in a separatedisplay or separate but related display. For example, a reel-typedisplay for a given result in the game may be dictated by that resultregardless of how quickly the player acts. However, an enhanced awardfor rapid play in the game may be shown with a separate “bonus reel” or“speed reel” or with some other graphic that is used to communicate theenhanced award to the player.

In the event the player at EPS 103 does not take the required action toclaim the prize within the set period of time, the prize associated withthe player's result in the bingo game may be forfeited as indicated atprocess block 411. In the case of a forfeited prize, EPS 103 may alsoproduce a suitable display to indicate to the player that the prizeassociated with the play in the bingo game has been forfeited.

There are a number of ways to calculate the player action time and thisdisclosure is not limited to any particular methods for computing ormeasuring this time. For example, the player action time might bemeasured from the time a required player action event occurs to the timeuntil the player action is completed or it may be measured from the timethe player enters a game play request to the time the player completesall required player actions. Additionally, the player action time mayalso be measured from the time the processor in EPS 103 executes thecommunication from LAS 102 associated with a game ending pattern to thetime the player takes the appropriate player action. In anotherembodiment, the required player action time can be measured from thetime an action incentive communication is sent from the processor of EPS103 to the display monitor of the EPS until the player completes therequired player actions. It should also be noted that player action timeis not limited to a single game. Rather, player action incentives may beprovided according to the invention over the course of several games,and thus the player action time may need to be measured for severaldistinct games. For example, a player may be entitled to play in a bonusgame if they take the appropriate player actions in some minimum periodof time for, say five or some other number of games in a row.

The operating system associated with EPS 103 may influence themeasurement of the player action time according to the presentinvention. For example, the operating system in use by the processor atEPS 103 may place the communication identifying a result in the bingogame into a queue of actions to be executed. Other operating systems mayexecute a game result identifying communication on receipt. Preferredforms of the present invention employ a player action time measurementarrangement or technique that removes operating system or instructionexecution differences from the time measurement. In particular, startingthe player action time measurement from the time the EPS display 305receives or is sent the data to produce the player action promptinggraphic tends to eliminate data processing variations from the playeraction time measurements. In this way, the player action time or timesmeasured and used by the system in identifying or determining results inthe game fairly represent the actual time taken by the player to takethe appropriate player action or actions in the game.

In some instances, the result from the bingo game may not be associatedwith any prize. If this is the case, the process at EPS 103 may notactivate a daub or prize claiming input device, and may not wait for aninput before displaying the result. Rather, the process at EPS 103 maysimply include displaying the non-winning or non-game ending resultimmediately after receiving it from LAS 102 without further interventionon the part of the player. Even if there is no prize associated with agiven result in the underlying game, the player may still be required totake some action and the present invention may offer action incentivesto act quickly. This use of action incentives acts to train the playerto act quickly and also increases player excitement by allowing theplayer to win some award or at least allowing them a chance at receivingsome award even where they do not win in the underlying game.

Another embodiment of the invention includes the situation where theplayer identified with the game ending result does not take theappropriate required player actions, but this inaction does not resultin the forfeiture of their prize. In these alternative forms of gamingsystems, the player's failure to take the required player actions maycause the underlying bingo game to proceed with the ball draw (oradditional numbers in the already defined ball draw sequence) untilanother game ending result is produced, thus generating an additionalplayer action event. The new game ending winner may then be given theopportunity to claim the winning prize. If this additional player failsto take the required player actions at this point, the game may proceedagain until another new apparent game ending winner is identified. Witheach identification of an additional apparent game ending winner and/oreach identification of any result in the game, the system may presentaction incentives and thus monitor an additional player action time anduse that additional player action time in determining the final resultor award to the player.

There may be great variation in the player actions necessary to claim agame ending result or other result in a bingo game conducted accordingto the invention. For example, where the player need only operate somecontrol once to claim their result, the operation of the control wouldbe referred to as a player action. As another example, where the playermust operate multiple controls or operate the same control multipletimes, all of this activity could also constitute a player action. Evenwhere multiple actions are required in order for the player to see theirresult, the invention may include measuring the time required for eachaction separately. Each individual player action time or any of theplayer action times in the series of player actions may be used toaffect the award or result of the game play according to the presentinvention. FIGS. 5 and 6 may be used to describe one preferredarrangement for cooperation between the LASs 102 and the CGS 101 insystem 100 shown in FIG. 1, and to describe the processes performed atthe LASs 102 and CGS 101 in that arrangement. In this particulararrangement for cooperation between LASs 102 and CGS 101, the CGS alwaysgroups players or game play requests for each game available through thesystem. The group of players or game play requests for a gameadministered through system 100 will be referred to in this disclosureas a quorum and will comprise some minimum number of players that may bea fixed number, a range of numbers, or a number determined dynamicallydepending upon certain system operating parameters and/or the nature ofthe game play requests.

Referring now to FIG. 5, each LAS 102 receives a game play request fromone of the EPSs 103 serviced by a respective LAS 102 and immediatelyforwards the game play request to CGS 101 along with informationassociated with the game play request such as a card definition or cardidentifier from which the card definition may be determined. Thisreceiving and forwarding step is shown at process block 500. Asindicated at block 500, the LAS process may also include starting atimer on the receipt of the first game play request from a local EPS 103for a given game. If a timer set at process block 500 times out beforeCGS 101 returns a ball draw and results for the game play requests whichhave been collected and forwarded to the CGS as indicated at decisionblock 501, LAS 102 may attempt to play the game locally if possible asindicated at process block 502. A timeout may occur if thecommunications link has been broken with CGS 101, or if thecommunications link has been degraded in some fashion. In this case itis necessary for LAS 102 to attempt to play games with only localplayers. Of course, if quorums cannot be produced locally withsufficient speed, LAS 102 may simply notify the EPSs 103 that new gamesare not presently available, or if the situation is transient, returneven money results to the requesting players.

In situations where no timer is used at LAS 102 or a timeout has notoccurred at decision block 501, the LAS receives a ball draw for thegame play requests it has forwarded to CGS 101 along with the results ofthe game for those game play requests/players, as shown at process block503. The actual communications between LAS 102 and CGS 101 may requirethat the ball draw is sent in one or more communications and the resultsare sent as a separate communication or communications, otherwise boththe ball draw information and results for the game may be sent as asingle communication. As indicated at process block 504, the LAS 102forwards some player action event prompting instruction to each localEPS 103 participating in the given game. This instruction may beassociated with data for the ball draw for the game and a result for therespective game play. In the illustrated form of the invention, LAS 102receives player action times from the respective EPSs 103 implicated inthe given bingo game as indicated at process block 505, and applies therespective player action times to determine, set, or identify the resultfor each respective game play. As shown at process block 506, LAS 102then forwards the respective game play result to the respective EPS 103from which the game play request was initiated. LAS 102 may alsocommunicate these results to any game accounting system separate fromthe LAS or incorporated with the LAS.

It should be noted that the particular sequence of communicationsbetween LAS 102 and EPSs 103 and the content of the communications mayvary greatly within the scope of the present invention. For example,step 504 in FIG. 5 may include communicating the ball draw with the gameand raw or preliminary results to the EPSs 103. The results are raw orpreliminary at this point in the sense that the player action time hasnot yet been measured or applied to determine, set, or identify thefinal result in the game. In fact, the steps of receiving a playeraction time for the respective EPS 103 and applying the player actiontime to produce the final result of the respective game play may beperformed at the respective EPS 103 rather than at the LAS, thusobviating the LAS steps shown at 505 and 506. Alternatively, the LAS 102may still receive and apply the player action times as indicated at 505and 506 even though the results in the underlying game are alreadycommunicated to the respective EPS 103 at step 504. In yet other formsof the invention, LAS 102 may simply relay player action time data toCGS 101 for the CGS to apply the player action times and determine, set,or identify the final result for each respective game play. This latterarrangement would require that this final result data be communicatedback to the respective EPSs 103, preferably through the respective LASs102.

The same basic sequence of providing action incentives appliesregardless of the specific hardware used to accomplish each particulartask. In particular, the invention first includes measuring a playeraction time and then applying the player action time in determining,setting, or identifying the result of each respective game play or aresult associated with some group of game plays.

FIG. 6 shows a process at CGS 101 that may be used in connection withthe LAS process shown in FIG. 5. The process for CGS 101 includesreceiving game play requests from the various LASs 102 as shown atprocess block 600 in FIG. 6. Process block 601 indicates that theprocess also includes determining if the conditions for a quorum exist.As shown at decision block 602, if the system determines that conditionsfor a quorum have not been met for the game play group in question, theprocess returns back to process block 600 to receive further game playrequests from LASs 102. However, if conditions for a quorum have beenmet, CGS 101 obtains or produces a ball draw for the game and identifiesthe results associated with that game by comparing the ball draw withthe bingo cards associated with the game play requests which make up thequorum. These functions are shown at process block 603 in FIG. 6. Asshown at process block 604, CGS 101 also communicates the ball draw andresults for a given game to the LASs 102 implicated for the particulargame play group for which a game has been played or initiated andresults identified.

FIG. 7 shows a representation of a graphic display 700 that may be usedto notify a player that action incentives are in effect. Display 700includes a game result display area represented by three-reel display701. This display is preferably a video representation of a reel typemachine rather than an actual reel type device. Display 700 alsoincludes an area 702 for displaying other information regarding the gameplay results, such as a ball draw and bingo card for bingo type games.In accordance with one preferred form of the present invention, display700 further includes an area 703 reserved for a graphic that presents orannounces the action incentives and thus encourages the player to takeaction quickly.

Action incentives may take a variety of forms, as briefly discussedearlier. The EPS 103 s may present the action incentives to the playervisually, audibly, or both. Action incentives may be constant for eachplayer, constant for certain players, or may be intermittent. Inparticular, action incentives according to the invention may be appliedrandomly at different times so that players do not know when the actionincentives apply. Applying action incentives in this fashion has theeffect of encouraging all players to act quickly on the chance that theaction incentives apply to their particular game play or plays. Theaction incentives may or may not encompass participating in a bonusgame. For example, a player may receive a bonus prize based on howquickly they complete the player actions, or the predetermined game playresult award amount may just be reduced depending on how long it takesthe player to claim the prize. In addition, the presentation may takethe form of a secondary game, such as a game of chance (e.g. a reel-spingame) or a game of skill. For example, EPS 103 may display on themonitor a game of skill where cross hairs move from a representation ofone bonus award or award level to another in order of descending value.The player has an incentive to take the required player action while thecross hairs are aligned with the highest award value. The actionincentives could also be in the form of the ability to enter into araffle with a drawing taking place at a later time or as part of anaccumulator bonus or bonus game arrangement. For example, rapid play ina particular game may cause the player to be awarded a speed playgraphic symbol at their respective EPS 103. Accumulating a certainnumber of these speed play graphic symbols may entitle the player to abonus prize or may entitle the player to play some bonus game andcompete for a bonus prize. Thus, a single quick play may not entitle theplayer to any monetary value. Nevertheless, the present inventionprovides action incentives in the form of some benefit available aftermultiple rapid plays.

Additionally, it should be noted that if the action incentives include asecondary game, the display of the game is preferably arranged so that aplayer's participation in the game does not interfere with theunderlying or original game. This format prevents a delay in thepresentation of results to the other players in the underlying game thatwould occur if they had to wait for their results until after one ormore fellow players finishes playing the bonus game. Some secondarygames may be quick games, such as the cross hairs game described above,and the completion of the player actions stems from the player'sparticipation in the game.

Another embodiment of the invention includes providing action incentivesonly to a certain subset of players in a given game. For example, asystem according to the invention may measure player action time andprovide action incentives only to a player in a bingo gaming system whohas achieved the apparent game ending pattern and will obtain acorresponding game ending result if the player takes the appropriateaction to claim the game ending result. Providing action incentives inthis case is particularly important to help encourage the player toclaim the game ending result quickly so that the game can quickly endand the remaining players in the game can obtain their results. Assumingthe results in the underlying game are concealed from the variousplayers until all required player actions are taken, each player stillhas an incentive to take their player actions quickly on the chance thattheir result is indeed one in which a quick player action time will havesome beneficial effect.

In one preferred form of the invention, the action incentives involvesome relatively higher award or result in the underlying game based uponplayer action time. For example, player action time may be divided intothree groups, group I comprising times less than a quarter of a second,group II comprising times between a quarter of a second and a second,and group III comprising all times over a second. The game may beconfigured so that the maximum award for the game play is awarded toplayers producing the player action in the group I time. Some lesseraward for the game play is awarded to players producing the playeraction in the group II time, and the minimum award is given to playersproducing the player action in the group III time.

Many of the process steps described in FIGS. 4-7 are preferablyperformed by processing devices, such as those described in FIGS. 1-3,under the control of operational program code. For example, actionincentive code can be executed upon receipt of the game play resultsfrom LAS 102 to control or direct the presentation of action incentivesat an EPS 103. The action incentive code would also be responsible fordisplaying that action incentives are applicable to a specific EPS 103if the existence of action incentives is displayed in an audio-visualmanner (i.e. not physically posted on the gaming device or at some otherlocation). The action incentive code may also actually apply thereported player action time to produce the final result of the game playrequest. Player action time monitoring code can be used to measureplayer action time as indicated at 407 and 408 in FIG. 4. This programcode may also report this time to LAS 102 as, illustrated in blocks 409and 505 in FIGS. 4 and 5 respectively. It should be noted that thisdescription of the invention does not include a discussion regarding thedetermination of a quorum of players for a particular game, nor does itdiscuss the data structures used to define the bingo game card faces andstore a number of ball draws. In addition, the application does notaddress the differing payout tables that could be used with theinvention. These issues are already thoroughly covered in the patentsand patent applications previously incorporated by reference in thisapplication, and are thus omitted from this disclosure to avoidobscuring the present invention in unnecessary detail.

The above described preferred embodiments are intended to illustrate theprinciples of the invention, but not to limit the scope of theinvention. Various other embodiments and modifications to thesepreferred embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. For example, although theprimary example described above relates to a multi-player gaming system,and particularly a bingo gaming system, the invention may be appliedwith stand alone, single-player gaming machines. In these applications,action incentives may simply encourage single-player rapid play. Anexample of such a stand alone gaming machine application might be intraditional reel-type or virtual reel-type gaming machines or slotmachines. The player action incentive in this case may be a play in abonus game if the player plays some number of regular games in shortsuccession or if the player consistently initiates new plays quickly.

1. A method including: (a) measuring a player action time for a playerin a game that requires a wager and that includes a player action eventand a period of time for completing a player action in the game, theplayer action time for the player comprising an amount of time thatelapses between the player action event and the point in time that theplayer completes the player action within the period of time forcompleting the player action; and (b) applying the player action time toidentify an award for the player other than no award.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the game is a bingo game and the player action includesan input to claim a game ending result associated with a game endingpattern that the player has achieved in the bingo game.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 further including: (a) measuring an additional player actiontime for an additional player in the game, the additional player actiontime comprising an amount of time that elapses between an additionalplayer action event in the game and the point in time that theadditional player completes the additional player action within a periodof time defined in the game for completing the additional player action;and (b) applying the additional player action time to identify an awardfor the additional player.
 4. The method of claim 3 further includingproducing a display at a player station for the additional player at thetime of the additional player action event to notify the additionalplayer of an action incentive.
 5. The method of claim 1 furtherincluding producing a display at a player station for the player at thetime of the player action event to notify the player of an actionincentive.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the award identified for theplayer includes an opportunity to participate in a bonus game.
 7. Themethod of claim 1 wherein applying the player action time to identifythe award for the player includes decreasing the value of a preliminaryresult for the player in the game.
 8. The method of claim 1 whereinapplying the player action time to identify the award for the playerincludes increasing the value of a preliminary result for the player inthe game.
 9. (canceled)
 10. The method of claim 1 further includingidentifying the award for the player based at least in part on a playeraction time for the player in a different game.
 11. An apparatusincluding: (a) a processing device, the processing device for (i)collecting a number of game play requests in a game which requires awager, which has at least one potential result that is associated with aprize, and which involves for a respective player associated with one ofthe game play requests a player action event associated with a period oftime for completing a player action, for (ii) conducting the game forthe collected game play requests, for (iii) identifying a result in thegame for the respective player, and for (iv) receiving a player actiontime for the respective player and applying the player action time toidentify an award for the respective player other than no award; and (b)a player station being connected for communication with the processingdevice, the player station for (i) producing the game play requestassociated with the respective player, for (ii) measuring the playeraction time for the respective player, the player action time for therespective player comprising an amount of time that elapses between theplayer action event and the point in time that the respective playercompletes a player action within the period of time for completing theplayer action, for (iii) communicating the player action time to theprocessing device, and for (iv) displaying the award identified for therespective player.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the playerstation is also for producing a display at the time of the player actionevent to notify the player of an action incentive.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 12 wherein the player station includes a player action timemeasurement arrangement for measuring the player action time for therespective player by (i) identifying a time associated with receivingthe data for presenting a graphic at a display for the player stationand by (ii) identifying a time associated with an input entered by therespective player at the player station in response to the player actionevent.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the processing device isalso for determining a result in the game for an additional player basedat least in part on a player action time for the additional player. 15.The apparatus of claim 11 wherein conducting the game for the collectedgame play requests includes matching a series of designations against arespective bingo card representation for each game play request.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 11 wherein the processing device applies the awardidentified for the respective player to modify the result for therespective player and thereby determine a final result.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 11 wherein the processing device identifies the awardfor the respective player based at least in part on a different playeraction time for the respective player in a different game.
 18. A programproduct including: (a) player action time monitoring code for beingexecuted to (i) measure a player action time for a player in a game thatrequires a wager and that includes a player action event and a period oftime for completing a player action, the player action time for theplayer comprising an amount of time that elapses between the playeraction event and the point in time that the player completes the playeraction within the period of time for completing the player action, andto (ii) communicate the player action time to a processing device foridentifying an award for the player; and (b) action incentive code forbeing executed to receive the player action time and apply the playeraction time to identify an award for the player other than no award. 19.The program product of claim 18 wherein the action incentive code isalso executed to produce a display at a player station for the player atthe time of the player action event to notify the player of an actionincentive.
 20. The program product of claim 18 wherein the awardidentified for the player comprises an amount by which to modify thevalue of a preliminary result for the play of the game.
 21. The methodof claim 1 wherein measuring the player action time includes activatinga timer.